Soul-Shattering
by Rosie2009
Summary: Evie misinterprets a conversation between Audrey and Mal and believes that her best friend in the entire world has turned her back on her, leaving Mal completely confused. Mal and Evie sisterly feels.


"Honestly, do you have any idea how much I hate picnicking with his family? It's so awkward. I don't think they even like me," Mal lamented as she walked with Evie, her arm linked with the bluenette's.

"M, I'm sure they'll come to love you. Belle likes you already. Adam's just a harder nut to crack. It'll be okay," Evie reassured, leaning her head against Mal's as they made their way down the halls.

"Y'know, we could just stay at our dorm and leave the boys to fend for themselves under the Beast's ever-critical eye," Mal begged for what felt like the millionth time. And for what felt like the millionth time, Evie simply shook her head and urged the shorter girl along.

"Come on. We've already come this far."

So far, throughout the entire trip to the courtyard where Ben's parents, the boys, and Ben himself were waiting, Mal had been resisting and Evie had been pulling. It wasn't that Mal didn't like Ben's parents. It was just that they didn't seem to like her one bit, so therefore it made her extra nervous when she had to talk to them.

One screwup and she could wreck her whole relationship with Ben. More importantly, she could wreck Evie, Jay, and Carlos' reputations and she could cause them to be sent back to the Isle.

So no pressure. No pressure at all when she saw Ben's parents. Just the fate of all the things she holds dear to her resting on her shoulders alone.

"Evie, we're not even halfway there yet," Mal pulled back a bit, trying to think of a reason as to why they couldn't go right then. There was surely a way to convince Evie that they needed to go back to their dorm. It would be a win-win. They could get whatever she "forgot" and Mal could delay the unfortunately inevitable.

Maybe it was really just a win on the faerie's behalf, since it would only give Mal an advantage…

"See? That's why we need to keep going," Evie instructed, tugging harder on Mal's arm that was attached to her own.

"Wait, we need to go back and get something," Mal suddenly stopped and Evie was forced to halt beside her. Even though it was her own scheme, Mal couldn't help but grin guiltily when Evie raised her eyebrow with that unimpressed expression that she pulled off so well.

"Mhmm, and just what would that be?" Evie questioned. Mal's mind raced, trying desperately to think of something. The only thing that she could think of was her phone, which she had left on purpose because of worrying that Adam and Belle would think she was rude.

"My phone," Mal blurted out, quickly attempting to appear casual after she had said it in such a hurry. "Never know if I might need it in case of emergency," Mal flashed a wide grin in the bluenette's direction.

Evie's arched eyebrow raised even higher if that was humanly possible.

Mal internally willed herself not to crack under Evie's watch. This was her one and only chance to avoid Ben's parents for a moment longer. It also was her only chance to possibly escape.

"I'll go get it for you. You stay here," Evie firmly told her after several moments and a good, long, skeptical stare. Mal resisted the urge to exhale in relief as she smirked at Evie.

"As you wish," Mal noncommittally replied, already concocting a plan inside of her mischievous little brain.

"I'm serious. Promise me you'll be in this exact spot the whole time I'm gone and when I get back," Evie commanded, pointing her finger at the purple-haired girl.

Mal looked her in the eye, seeing Evie's desire and need for the truth. Mal knew she was serious, and as much as she wanted to slip away unnoticed before Evie returned, she knew she couldn't realistically do it. Mal groaned, glancing away for a moment, before returning her gaze to Evie's.

"Fine. I won't move a bit, okay?" Evie's rouged lips curled up into that characteristically beautiful grin and Mal rolled her eyes, unable to resist smiling back.

"I'm holding you to that," Evie said as she hurried around the corner and off back to their dorms.

Mal sighed, letting out a puff of breath as she leaned against the wall, and closed her eyes.

"I see that you're sending one of your servants to fetch something," Mal suddenly heard the voice of the last person that she wanted to hear from today- Audrey. The green-eyed girl rolled her eyes.

"Don't you have something better to do today?" Mal questioned, opening her eyes and glancing over at the pink princess.

"Okay, look, I'm sorry for that," Audrey apologized, and Mal immediately stared at the other girl in pure shock at the fact she was actually being nice.

"I went a little too far. Just trying to start a conversation. I royally suck at that, if you haven't noticed," Audrey laughed a bit, and Mal was sure her eyeballs were going to fall out of her head at Audrey's sudden personality change.

All Mal could think was that it had to be a trick, so once she had scooped her jaw up off of the floor, she replied with something snarky in hopes to bring out Audrey's real personality, or at least what she had perceived to be her true nature.

"Audrey, _what_ are you aiming to achieve with this?" Mal questioned exasperatedly, shaking her head as she desperately wished for Evie to hurry up and come around the corner.

It was quite a change in wishes. A few minutes ago, she was wishing that Evie would take her own sweet and slow time coming back and now she wished Evie would rush back. It was funny how things changed when Audrey was thrown into the mix.

"Nothing! I was just thinking that Evie's like a puppy. Always following you around and loyal like one, too," Mal just laughed in response and Audrey threw her hands up in the air. "Hey, all I'm saying is that it must be nice to have someone that's willing to go all the way back to your dorm just to get something that you forgot to get for yourself in the first place."

"Evie treats me way better than I deserve," Mal defended her sister firmly, keeping her eyes focused where Evie had left.

"Well, whatever you say," Audrey rolled her eyes and replied. Mal quietly waited for Audrey to realize that Mal was not worth her high and mighty presence and stalk off in a huff as she always does.

But to her utmost surprise as well as chagrin, Audrey made the decision to linger.

"So… You in the mood to trash-talk that new girl of Snow White's that seems to think she owns the place?" Audrey asked, her voice bored as she raised an eyebrow. Mal looked back at her skeptically. Something wasn't right with the fact that Audrey was actually wanting to talk to her in considerably civil conversation. As a matter of fact, this entire exchange between the two of them was disturbingly odd.

After a moment of debating, Mal couldn't help but agree. That new girl _was_ irritating. And worse than that, Sarah White had dared mess with her sister. Mal was eager to tear apart that girl's reputation to shreds. Plus, nobody in the whole school that was in their right mind could decline the opportunity to insult her at least a little bit, because everybody hated her.

"Sure."

…

"My gosh, where should I even begin?" Evie stopped quickly at the sound of Audrey's voice just before she reached the corner, automatically feeling an immediate surge of protectiveness over Mal. But, Evie reminded herself, there was no reason to get angry if Audrey wasn't saying anything offensive to the faerie.

"Have you seen the way she struts around here?" Audrey suddenly piped back up. Evie furrowed her brow.

"Yeah, she thinks she is so much better than everyone else here. News flash, her face isn't nearly as pretty as she believes. 'Who's the fairest of them all?'" Mal mockingly questioned, and Evie's eyes widened. They couldn't possibly be talking about her. Mal wouldn't betray her like this.

"She's so plain!"

"Those dog-turd-brown eyes and that always present makeup. She's so fake," Mal added, and Evie almost felt a physical blow as she tentatively touched the layer of red coating her lips.

"At least she has perfect teeth. That's probably the only thing going for her," Audrey replied, happening to see Evie who had her head poked out from behind the corner. Audrey glanced down at her watch before immediately changing the subject and saying something about needing to leave before she strutted off in the opposite direction.

They _were_ talking about her. Why else would Audrey have stopped talking and immediately left? Evie quickly retreated her head behind her corner when she saw Mal turning on her heel to look back in Evie's direction.

Evie looked down at her feet, Mal's phone slipping out of her hand and landing on the floor. She absently noted that it remained undamaged by the impact. Unlike herself, who was currently very damaged from the effect of her sister's words. She couldn't help but wish she had a large foam-rimmed case surrounding her, too. Maybe she wouldn't be so hurt by those words.

She bit her lip, holding back tears as she felt her heart breaking. How could Mal say such things about her? Evie thought that Mal loved her. Evie had allowed herself to be vulnerable with Mal. She had told Mal things that she would never have told anyone else.

In particular, she had exposed to Mal that she was very insecure about her looks. How could Mal have just carelessly thrown her trust away? It stung and cut deeply within her, because she loved Mal more than anything besides the boys.

But Evie guessed that this heavenly dream that was Auradon and her found family couldn't last forever. It was an awful truth, but in the end, one could never trust anybody. Not even people that seemed to love and care.

So she did the only thing logical- she ran. She ran and left Mal there to sort things out herself.

…

"Good grief, what is taking her so long?" Mal finally asked aloud and began her trek back to her room in the direction that Evie had left.

Mal honestly couldn't work out what was keeping the girl for so long. It wasn't like her phone was hidden away somewhere that was going to be impossible to find.

However, as she rounded the corner, Mal immediately paused at the sight of her phone lying there on the floor. She bent down and picked up the device, looking around in an attempt to spot the bluenette.

To her surprise and confusion, Evie was absolutely nowhere in sight. Mal tucked away her phone in her pocket absent-mindedly as she tried to work out what had happened.

The purple-haired girl furrowed her brow in thought, and eventually headed for the picnic in hopes that maybe she was going to meet her there or that the others had seen or heard from her.

Evie had obviously been just around the corner at some point. But what Mal didn't understand was why Evie had never come back to her. It was also puzzling that her phone was just lying there on the floor. Why would Evie have left it?

Mal knew Evie well, and with that knowledge came the established fact that Evie valued things that belonged to the others just as much or more than items that belonged to herself. She had a true respect for other people's property, which was odd considering that they were all brought up on the Isle where things that belonged to others were destroyed simply for amusement.

Maybe that was just it, though. Evie had a heavier respect for physical property because everything that the four of them had were hard-earned and could be easily smashed at any point in time.

Which was why Mal just couldn't figure this entire situation out.

Evie had to have been upset or something, but Mal couldn't decipher what could have possibly offended the other girl. She had not said or done anything at all to the bluenette.

Had she happened to overhear her and Audrey talking? It seemed preposterous, but Mal wondered if Evie was jealous of Audrey. Although, Mal didn't know why she would be. Audrey was far from being her friend. Very far.

She pushed open the door that led to the outdoor grounds, and she spotted the colors of the group's clothing against the greenness of the grass.

Before long, Mal reached where the boys, Ben, and Ben's family were waiting. They already had a checkered blanket laid out on the ground, and Mal immediately noticed the lack of any sign of Evie.

Her stomach churned with her nerves, and she hurried over to the group.

Jay was the first to turn around and he had a sly smirk on his face, no doubt going to say something smart, until he noted the nigh panic that was etched into her features. He immediately sobered and smacked Carlos so he would pay attention.

"What's wrong?" Jay questioned without hesitation.

"Have you seen Evie?" Mal responded with a question of her own.

"Wasn't she with you?" Carlos checked with an eyebrow raised. Mal nervously noted that Ben and his family were starting to stare, so she bent down to speak more privately to the boys.

"She was. I sent her to go get my phone since I forgot it, and she took forever. When I finally started to go back to the dorms where she was supposed to have left to, I found my phone on the floor just around the corner," Mal explained in a whisper, avoiding looking at Ben's parents as she spoke.

"That definitely doesn't sound good. We need to find her," Carlos immediately voiced his verdict. Jay nodded in response and he started to rise up from the cloth.

"Mal, what's going on? Where are you guys going?" Ben asked, his face comparable to that of a lost puppy. Mal looked at the boys nervously and then returned her gaze to her boyfriend's.

She didn't want to lie to Ben, and maybe if it had just been him, her, and the boys, she would've told the entire truth. Mal just didn't exactly feel like having to go into a big explanation in front of those parents of his. They sort of scared her, and she most certainly didn't trust them with anything that deeply mattered to her. Evie was one of those things that she certainly would never trust anyone with. At least not easily.

"Family emergency. I'm so sorry, but we've got to take care of it. I promise everything'll be alright," Mal told him, after deciding to tell him the truth without elaboration, and she quickly took off.

Jay and Carlos jogged up on either side of her and Jay charged ahead to open the door leading inside the school as they seamlessly streamed through.

"Where are we looking?" Jay questioned, not wasting time in getting down to business as he caught back up to the other two.

"Carlos, hit the Chemistry classroom. She might be there doing some sort of extra credit for Mister Deley. Jay, go ask Doug if he's seen her. He's been stalking her since he broke up with her," Mal rolled her eyes, allowing herself a moment of distaste for the nerd. Disgusting weirdo can't see a good thing when it's right in front of him.

"I'm going for our dorm. Let's move, people!" Mal instructed, shaking herself from the frustration at the dork and moving faster when she saw that the boys weren't trying to keep up with her anymore.

Mal rounded a corner, jumping to the side to avoid Aziz, Aladdin's son, who was currently trying to subtly flirt with Jordan yet again while she barely paid attention as she dug through her locker. The faerie continued in her run and she jumped over Ruby's hair that was spread across the hall.

Mal couldn't help but absently wonder how in the world Ruby kept all of that hair clean and how she didn't have everyone stepping on it considering the fact that it was practically all over the school.

Cheyenne, Charlotte La Bouff's daughter, was in deep conversation with her best friend Alicia, Princess Tiana's daughter, as they strolled arm and arm through the halls carefreely. Mal barreled past them and they looked a little shocked.

"You be careful, hon!" Cheyenne called after her in that sweet Southern drawl, and Mal barely registered her voice as she hurried around another bend.

She nearly ran over Princess Anna's daughter Hannah and Queen Elsa's daughter Elaina in her haste.

"Where's the fire?!" Hannah called out, giggling at her own joke while Elaina just shook her head in fond exasperation at her cousin.

How many students were in this school? These crowds of people everywhere were absurd, Mal couldn't help but mentally note. Back on the Isle, all she had to do was step into sight and people would go dispersing, so she never had to worry about dodging people unless she was in the square where there were thick, unavoidable hordes.

She could finally see her door and she slowed down just a little so she could stop easily when arrived.

Just before she got to the dorm, she spotted a head of blue hair carefully easing out into the hall with a load of boring books that looked to be about Algebra, Geometry, or one of those terrible subjects tucked beneath her left arm.

"Evie!" Mal called, hurrying over to the taller girl. "Gosh, I have been so worried. The boys are going to flip the whole friggin' school when-" Mal paused immediately mid-sentence upon the sight of Evie's expression.

As soon as Evie turned to face her, Mal knew something was horribly and terribly amiss. Evie's eyes were missing that usual sparkle of adoration that they had whenever she saw Mal, and were instead replaced by a dull, spiritless glint that was frighteningly uncharacteristic of Evie. She had a chill about her, and she never acted as if she were going to hug Mal or do any of her usual touchy-feely things that she always did.

"Are you okay?" Mal asked, blankly staring at the other girl as she tried to recollect herself from the shock. Evie studied her for a moment in an almost calculating sort of way, and then coolly responded.

"I'm fine. Something came up and I couldn't come to the picnic with you. Sorry," Evie emotionlessly spoke, turning away and starting to leave down the hall.

"E, is something bothering you?" Mal questioned, sidling up to Evie and gaping at her profile that never betrayed any hint of feeling in it.

"No, I'm fine," Evie simply replied, not once looking at Mal.

Quite frankly, this lack of concern and this insensitivity was beginning to terrify the slightly younger girl. Mal was always the one that was closed off in their friendship. Evie never held anything back around Mal, or at least not in such a stubborn manner. Mal could always count on Evie surrendering at some point whatever had upset her.

"Are you mad?"

"I'm fine," Evie repeated for what felt like the millionth time.

"Are you upset about something?"

"I'm fine," Evie reiterated yet again. Mal resisted the strong urge to roll her eyes at Evie's new favorite mantra.

Obviously, if she was going to get anything out of the bluenette, she was going to have to bring out the big guns. And for Evie, that usually meant some sort of physical contact and expressions of feelings.

"Hey, I love you. I wish you'd talk to me," Mal went out on a limb and told her, taking her hand that wasn't holding books. Evie's gaze immediately snapped over to meet her own, and Mal could've sworn that she saw a flash of hurt, anger, and love rolled into one, but it was swiftly replaced with that monotoning mask as she looked away.

She didn't respond, and just kept walking. Mal kept up with her and continued to hold her hand in hopes of an eventual answer.

"Did you hear me?" Mal prodded, hoping she could get something besides barely anything. She knew Evie had heard every word she had said. That one gaze had betrayed her.

"Yes, I did." Mal was immediately frustrated at the short reply, and she couldn't help her automatic pop-off at the mouth that ensued shortly thereafter.

"The heck, E?! What is wrong with-"

"If you'll excuse me, Mal, I'm going to the library to study. I need to focus, so please leave me alone," Evie interrupted, stopping and turning to face the purple-haired girl.

Despite the fact that she wasn't letting any kind of emotion into her eyes or gestures, Mal could feel the sadness and hurt rolling off of her in waves. Even in the undertones of her voice, Mal could hear the slightest hints of deep pain. Mal hesitantly let Evie's hand slip from her own, and she watched her leave with wide eyes.

What was going on with her best friend?

…

Evie snuck close to the door to their dorms, hoping desperately that Mal wasn't there. She honestly didn't know how much longer she could hold out before breaking down into a puddle of tears. All day, she had spotted Mal and the boys around wherever she decided to spend time at.

Mal didn't approach her again after her earlier confrontation, but the boys had approached her. She had made sure to act as if absolutely nothing was wrong. She didn't want them to worry, and it was obviously only Evie that Mal hated so much.

Although, the bluenette did not understand why Mal had tried so desperately to find out what was wrong with her. Unless she just wanted Evie back so she could take advantage of her feelings and trust again, Evie couldn't help but bitterly wonder.

Evie hesitantly opened the door to their dorms and noted with relief that Mal was nowhere in sight. She shut the door gently behind her, locking it carefully as she moved over to her vanity to drop off her bag as she always did. Evie plopped down into her chair with a heavy sigh. She then looked into her mirror in the moonlight, finally deciding that she would likely go ahead and sleep in her makeup and everything.

However, when she least expected it, bright artificial light poured into the room, and illuminated her form to the person that was currently standing in the bathroom doorway.

"Finally decided to come back, did you?" Mal questioned bluntly, and Evie stiffened as she forced her walls back up. After a moment of watching Evie carefully, Mal brushed past her to turn on the light in the room.

"I suppose I did," Evie ground out, blinking when the lights flicked on.

She could practically feel Mal's eyes on the back of her head, and it was all she could do not to turn and start crying about earlier. After all, even if Mal didn't love or care about Evie, Evie still loved her. That's why it hurt so much.

"Evie, I don't know what in the world has upset you so much, but I really wish you'd tell me," Mal suddenly spoke, and Evie listened to the mattress just behind her creak as Mal sat down. The bluenette closed her eyes, trying to keep the tears at bay. Mal sounded so convincing. It sounded just like the person that she always knew and trusted. But how could it be with what she had heard earlier?

"There's nothing to tell," Evie forced, and winced as her voice cracked mid-sentence. Sure enough, she heard Mal stand up from the mattress and walk over to her.

"Have I done something to hurt you?" Mal asked her, deathly serious as she looked into Evie's eyes in the reflection of the mirror. Evie just couldn't take it anymore. She had to tell Mal, and Mal just seemed so understanding, even if she had wounded her deeply.

So in response, Evie shook her head, covered her face with her hands, and just let it all out in the midst of her finally released sobs.

"Evie…" The bluenette was suddenly pulled up from her chair and into Mal's tight hug. As angry and hurt as she was at Mal right now, she needed the comfort, and she wrapped her amrs around Mal in return, clinging to her tightly.

"It's okay, I love you, E. Whatever it is, it's all going to be fine," Mal reassured her, and Evie hiccupped as she forcefully brought a momentary halt to her sobs.

"But you said all those things about me," Evie sniffled, and quickly dipped her head back down into Mal's neck as she tried to control her tears, nuzzling her face into the warm, comforting skin in an attempt to forget her woes.

"What did I say about you?" Mal asked, sounding completely confused. Evie shook her head. "E, c'mon. What?"

"You said I'm fake, and I have dog-turd brown eyes, I still think that I'm the fairest of them all," Evie mumbled in nigh hysteria as she clung tightly to the smaller girl.

"Evie, what are you- wait," Mal paused, seemingly in thought.

Then, to Evie's complete and utter offense, Mal quite puzzlingly started to laugh. Evie furrowed her brow, pulling away a bit as she determined that she was more affronted at this moment than needy for comfort.

Mal must have realized exactly how bad that appeared, so she quickly followed up with an explanation.

"I'm sorry, that was uncalled for," Mal apologized, holding back her giggles as she sobered to look at Evie. "It was just funny because… E, I wasn't talking about you at all." Evie's eyes went wide as she gaped at the other girl.

"Who were you talking about?" Evie questioned blankly.

"I was talking about Snow White's daughter Sarah. Y'know, the new girl that insulted you so much the other day, and that I almost had to murder for messing with my sister," Mal told her heartfeltly, looking into her eyes. Evie was starting to feel a bit of relief creeping into her.

"Really?" Evie asked, ensuring Mal's explanation was accurate as she gaped.

"Evie. You know that I love you dearly and I wouldn't ever say anything like that about you, don't you?" Mal reassured, and the way that she had presented her question somehow put it all in perspective for Evie. It was ridiculous for her to so quickly become so sensitive over what Mal had said.

Evie immediately found herself feeling extremely silly for what she had done and how she had reacted. Evie brought Mal back into her embrace, resting her chin on Mal's head as she sighed in happy relief.

"I love you, M. I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions. I guess what you said just kind of hit me in the insecurities," Evie murmured and smiled widely and ridiculously as she felt lighter than she had all day. It was such an alleviating feeling to know that everything was okay. Even if she was terribly ashamed of herself for reacting in the way she did.

"It's all good. I'm just glad I've got my sister back," Mal spoke against the taller girl's neck. Evie sighed, feeling contentment overtake her being as she held one of her most favorite people in the world.

"And you won't ever lose her."


End file.
